An employee has the right to withdraw an application for voluntary retirement at any time before it is formally accepted and communicated by the employer, or before the retirement takes effect, ensuring the preservation of continuous service status.

JUDGMENT :

Deepak Roshan, J.

1. Heard learned counsel for the parties.

2. The Petitioner, who was working as Welfare Organizer in Zila Sainik Welfare Office, Gumla, was suffering from life threatening disease and therefore, applied for voluntary retirement on health grounds on 10.10.2019. Soon thereafter, he sent a withdrawal letter dated 08.11.2019 as he realized that the pre-mature voluntary retirement would lead to curtailment of financial benefits.

3. It is not in dispute that the Petitioner continued his service till Oct, 2020 without any break in service. It is only when he received a letter dated 01.10.2020 from his Controlling Office that he became aware that his initial application for voluntary retirement was being accepted and the date of retirement would be 31.10.2020. The Zila Sainik Welfare Officer (“ZSWO”) thereafter, issued an office order dated 28.10.2020 informing the Petitioner that his request for voluntary retirement has been accepted and that his voluntary retirement will take effect from 31.10.2020.

4. The case of the Petitioner, relying upon the letter dated 08.11.2019 by which he had withdrawn his voluntary retirement offer dated 10.10.2019, is that that there could not have been acceptance of an offer which was withdrawn more than 8 months earlier. Reliance has been placed on the decision of Hon’ble Apex Court in J.N. Srivastava vs Union of India and Anr. (1998) 9 SCC 559. For brevity, paragraph no. 3 of the decision reads as follows:

3. The short question is whether the appellant was entitled to withdraw his voluntary retirement notice of three months submitted by him on 3-10-1989 which was to come into effect from 31-1-1990. It is true that this proposal was accepted by the authorities on 2-11-1989. But thereafter before 31-1-1990 was reached, the appellant wrote a letter to withdraw his voluntary retirement proposal. This letter is dated 11-12-1989. The said request permitting him to withdraw the voluntary retirement proposal was not accepted by the respondents by communication dated 26-12-1989. The appellant, therefore, went to the Tribunal but the Tribunal gave him no relief and took the view that the voluntary retirement had come into force on 31- 1-1990 and the appellant had given up the charge of the post as per his memo relinquishing the charge and consequently, he was estopped from withdrawing his voluntary retirement notice. In our view the said reasoning of the Tribunal cannot be sustained on the facts of the case. It is now well settled that even if the voluntary retirement notice is moved by an employee and gets accepted by the authority within the time fixed, before the date of retirement is reached, the employee has locus poenitentiae to withdraw the proposal for voluntary retirement. The said view has been taken by a Bench of this Court in the case of Balram Gupta v. Union of India [1987 Supp SCC 228 : 1988 SCC (L&S) 126 : (1987) 5 ATC 246] . In view of the aforesaid decision of this Court it cannot be said that the appellant had no locus standi to withdraw his proposal for voluntary retirement before 31-1-1990. It is to be noted that once the request for cancellation of voluntary retirement was rejected by the authority concerned on 26-12-1989 and when the retirement came into effect on 31-1-1990 the appellant had no choice but to give up the charge of the post to avoid unnecessary complications. He, however, approached the Tribunal with the main grievance centering round the rejection of his request for withd